1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a bumper structure of a motor vehicle, and more particularly to a bumper structure including a bumper fascia.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Some light duty motor vehicles are equipped with bumper structures of a type having a plastic bumper fascia. In order to clarify the task of the present invention, one conventional bumper structure of this type will be outlined with reference to FIG. 3 of the accompanying drawings.
As is seen from FIG. 3, a bumper reinforce 10, having a generally channel structure, extends laterally along and is secured to a front portion of a vehicle body (not shown). A bumper fascia 14 extends along and covers the bumper reinforce 10.
The bumper reinforce 10 has a front vertical wall portion 16, a sloped upper wall portion 18 and a horizontal bottom wall portion 20 which are united to constitute the channel structure. The front vertical wall portion 16 has a through opening 22. The sloped upper wall portion 18 is formed at a rear end portion thereof with a forwardly bent portion 24. The horizontal bottom wall portion 20 is formed with a through hole (no numeral).
The bumper fascia 14 is formed at an upper rear end portion thereof with a grooved portion 26 for fixedly receiving therein the forwardly bent portion 24 of the bumper reinforce 10. The bumper fascia 14 has at a front end portion thereof a projection 28 which is rearwardly and horizontally extended. The projection 28 has a rear end portion which is so shaped and sized as to be thrust into the through opening 22 of the bumper reinforce 10. The bumper fascia 14 has a flange 30 below the projection 28 which flange 30 extends rearwardly and laterally along the bottom wall portion 20 of the bumper reinforce 10. The flange 30 has a through hole (no numeral) which is to be mated with the through hole of the bottom wall portion 20 of the bumper reinforce 10.
The procedure for mounting the bumper fascia 14 onto the bumper reinforce 10 is described as follows.
First, the projection 28 of the bumper fascia 14 is thrust into the through opening 22 of the bumper reinforce 10. Then, the grooved portion 26 of the bumper fascia 14 is engaged with the forwardly bent portion 24 of the bumper reinforce 10. Then, the upper surface of the flange 30 of the bumper fascia 14 is placed on the bottom surface of the bottom wall portion 20 of the bumper reinforce 10 in a manner to align the through hole of the flange 30 with the through hole of the bottom wall portion 20. Then, a pin 32 is thrust into the through holes thereby fixedly connecting the flange 30 of the bumper fascia 14 to the bottom wall portion 20 of the bumper reinforce 10. Thus, the bumper fascia 14 is securely fastened to the bumper reinforce 10.
However, the bumper structure of the above-mentioned type has the following drawbacks.
The projection 28 of the bumper fascia 14 must be large in size relative to a bumper fascia proper so as to achieve a tight connection of the bumper fascia 14 to the bumper reinforce 10. Thus, upon molding, an undesired depression tends to appear at a portion on the front surface of the bumper fascia 14 where a root portion of the projection 28 is provided, thereby lowering the external appearance of the bumper fascia 14. To prevent the occurrence of depression, a so-called character line (viz., a decorative groove) may be provided on the front surface of the bumper fascia 14 in a manner to extend laterally and to pass through the portion where the root portion of the projection 28 is provided. However, in this case, the positioning of the character line is strictly limited. Furthermore, the character line must be so sized as to prevent depression. Thus, the character line can not be omitted from the bumper fascia 14, and the design of the bumper fascia 14 is strictly limited.
Furthermore, due to the shape of the projection 28 of the bumper fascia 14 as being swollen at its rear end portion, a sliding mold must be used for molding the bumper fascia 14, thereby increasing the cost for producing the bumper fascia 14.